While electric powered vehicles appeared from time-to-time, they have not heretofore reached their expected production potential. For example, Decker U.S. Pat. No. 1,179,407 issued in 1916, disclosing an electric truck including a transmission having aligned armature shaft 31, pocket shaft 19 and main shaft 18, and a counter shaft 22 parallel thereto. Two pinion gears are slidably mounted on the main shaft 18, while a third gear is secured thereon, and four pinion gears are secured to the shaft 22, one in mesh with the third gear. By sliding the two slidably mounted gears along the main shaft to selectively engage the third gear of the main shaft and three of the four gears of the countershaft, low, second, high and reverse speeds are attained.
Kelly U.S. Pat. No. 1,442,220 issued in 1923, disclosing an electric powered automotive vehicle, preferably a truck, including a transmission having parallel motor and rear wheel drive shafts. A pair of gears are keyed to the motor shaft, and a second pair of gears are rotatably mounted on the drive shaft and mesh with the first pair of gears. Clutch means are slidably keyed to the drive shaft intermediate the second pair of gears for establishing two drive speeds by selectively manually engaging the one or the other of the second pair of gears.
Heany U.S. Pat. No. 1,794,613 issued in 1931, disclosing a transmission system for automobiles and including a combination of electro-magnetic and mechanical clutches so arranged in connection with suitable gears as to give automatic change of speeds depending on the relative speed of driving means and driven member and torque requirements of the car, and also containing means of manually shifting into various forward and reverse speeds. The transmission includes a main drive shaft, a parallel countershaft and a short shaft supporting an idler gear. Three gears are mounted on a sleeve slidably keyed to the main shaft, and three gears are secured to the countershaft, one of which meshes with the idler gear. Selectively sliding the three sleeve-mounted gears in cooperation with two of the three gears of the countershaft and the idler gear produce low, second, and reverse speed ratios.
Busch U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,485 issued in 1975, disclosing an electric motor vehicle including a two-part transmission having an input shaft from a shunt-wound electric motor, a parallel final output shaft of an electric clutch, and a parallel output shaft to the drive wheels, an input gear on the input shaft, a meshing gear on the final output shaft, along with ring, planet and sun gears on the latter connected by a unidirectional clutch to a separately mounted gear which meshes with a gear carried on the electric clutch shaft. Variable-pitch pulleys on the input and the electric clutch shafts are interconnected by a V-belt. At low speeds the electric motor is connected via the variable-pitch pulleys and V-belt to the wheels, and for higher speeds the motor is connected thereto via the above referenced gearing. Reverse is effected by reversing the motor electrically.